Back to School Night

A couple weeks after school started, the school had a Back to School Night. The parents were invited to visit the kids' classrooms, meet the teachers and get lots of information. It was nice to have Ken be able to come so he could see the school, meet Mrs. Floy and see my Dad's Special Ed. room. It was kind of crazy showing my husband around the school I went to as a little kid! This first picture is the wall of welcome! I was happy that Taysum got a green apple; he LOVES the color green!

This is Mrs. Floy's room. She's made it really cute and comfortable for the students!

Got to LOVE that face!!!

Taysum's coat hook

This was an activity where they say what the paint blob looks like to them. There sure were some interesting answers from the kids. Taysum thought his looked like a ladybug. I think the most original answer was a scorpion in a heart!

This is the classroom! Mrs. Floy is standing to the far left. Taysum sits at the end of the table in the middle.

Reading Corner

Labor Day Weekend

Bailey in the bubbles: We had a very nice Labor Day weekend! On Saturday, we went up to Billings. It had been awhile since Ken and I had been to the temple, so it was a great chance to go! Ken went first while the kids and I did some long over-due shopping! We got some really great clothes for the kids; it was really nice. By the time we got back to the temple, it was starting to close down for the day and I wasn't able to perform any services; however, I did take the chance to just sit in the lobby and enjoy the peace of the Spirit. In the Billings' temple lobby, there is a sky light the length of the room right underneath the spire; so when you look up you can see the spire, the angel Moroni and the sky. It was so incredible! I've glanced at it many times, but that day I just sat and enjoyed! The sky was a deep blue with bright fluffy clouds floating by! It was just perfect! After that, we took the kids to a nearby park to let them work their wiggles out. We had a good time. There was a little girl there by herself and she and Taysum became good friends. (See the video at the end)

There was a storm rolling in and it was pretty powerful to watch!
Taysum and his new friend.

Hayden is getting so mobile! I just LOVE his quick smile!

We got some new underwear for Taysum. When we got them in the store, a man walked by and Taysum said all excited, "Look what I got!" The man and I laughed and I said, "Taysum, you don't have to show people your underwear!" The man said, "That's OK, I did the same thing with my little boy last night." It was pretty funny. This is his first time trying boxer briefs and he thought they were pretty interesting. He asked what kind of underwear they were. When Ken told him they were boxer briefs, Taysum ran and got his boxing gloves! What else would you do in boxers, but box!?!

Monday was a nice day, too! We went up to the mountains with my parents and three of Lindsay's kids. My Dad has lived in this area all his life and is in the mountains all the time! So we were surprised to hear of a place we knew nothing about! It's called Paradise Falls. So, we decided to try and go find it. There's no sign and it's not maintained, but there is a path from all the people walking on it. By the time we got to the top, it was...yes...SNOWING!! It was pretty cold, but we decided to rough it out! The trail was a lot more difficult than we had anticipated, but we made it! Even doing Zumba every week, I was sore for the next few days. It was so worth it, though! The falls were just beautiful! I'm excited to go back when it's warmer and the kids are a little older! I was just SO bummed that I forgot my camera!! When we got back, I had a meeting and Ken had soccer practice. Then we had homemade pizza with my parents and the Lindsays. It was a great weekend!

Taysum's First Day of School

WOW!! I've really gotten behind! Some really great things have been happening and I don't want the memories to fade too much before I get them down!


We now have three students in our house!! Ken is taking an Engineering class through North West Community College in Powell. It works out really perfectly because the class is during his lunch break Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He's taken two tests and got an 'A' on both and 100% on his last one!! His teacher is really impressed with him. I'm really impressed with him, too! Between being a husband, father, employee, college student, soccer coach and now Young Men's President, he is one busy boy!! I know it's stressful for him and he doesn't feel he does as much as he would like to; I am so thankful that he handles things so well and I love him for that!!

Next is Taysum Guy, our KINDERGARTENER!! I can hardly believe we've entered the world of the public school system!! It's exciting, but overwhelming all at the same time! He could hardly stand it, he was so excited for school to start! His teacher sent out a little card with a picture of herself on it introducing herself to the students. He didn't know I was watching, but I saw him put the card up on his bulletin board in his room and he said, "I hope my teacher love me!" It was so sweet. Everyone at school seems to really enjoy Taysum. The first day of school, I woke him up and told him it was time for school. He jumped up, gave me a big hug and kissed me three times on the cheek. He was SO excited! He was so ready to go! I only got blurry pictures because he was trying to get out the door! :)

It was quite the experience taking my little boy to the same school I went to at that age! I can remember my Mom taking me to Kindergarten and now here I am taking my oldest to school! It was just amazing to me!! Taysum had a great welcoming committee! Grandpa Anderson is the case manager for his IEP. He has been great in helping Taysum's teacher create the best possible experience for Taysum! Aunt Lindsay has been a great help as well! She takes him to school everyday and has been really good about keeping an eye out for him! Mrs. Winland and Mrs. Ellis are two of the paras that work with Taysum.

Going into the "BIG school!"

Getting in line for breakfast with Primary classmate, Katherine Mickleson.

Taysum was really excited for the first few days of school. He would come home exhausted and grumpy, but that's a big change for a little guy. We have all day Kindergarten here, so it's rough on those little ones. By Thursday he said he was done with school! The mornings are a little rough, but once he gets to school he's just fine! His teacher, Mrs. Floy, is great! She's really open to trying anything that will help Taysum. It's taken these first few weeks to figure things out, but with a lot of help from Grandpa and Mrs. Floy, I think we're getting things in place to really help Taysum be successful!!

We've had another change at our house! We traded one Kindergarten boy for two little girls!! I am watching my nieces during the day. In the morning, Lindsay drops off her girls, Carissa and Celeste, and takes Taysum to school. After school, CJ, Quinn and Taysum go to Grandpa's room until Lindsay is done and then she brings him home, too; it works out really nicely. We keep pretty busy here with a 4, 3, 1 and 6 month old! On Mondays and Fridays we take Bailey to preschool (see next post); Tuesday through Thursday we take Carissa to preschool. Also on Wednesdays we take Carissa and Bailey to dance class (another post coming soon!)

This was Taysum coming home on his first day. He was pretty worn out and didn't really talk much about what happened that day, but I think he's getting used to the schedule now!

Watching Jimmy Neutron with Hayden.

It's so interesting to have entered this chapter in our lives! It's sad to see them move out of the baby stage, but it's also exciting to see them have these new experiences and start to have their own lives out in the world! As long as they always come home at the end of the day!! :)

New Project: Scrap Albums

I love to scrapbook, but it's just way too overwhelming with little "helpers" around. I thought, maybe I'd just go to photo albums, but that didn't seem quite right either. Then my wonderful sister-in-law, Leah, told me she had seen this idea on TV and it was my answer!! It's a combination of scrapbook and photo album!! What you do is you get a cute photo album (they make them as cute as scrapbooks any more). Then you just make a 4x6 card with the accessories and journaling; then you can have as many pictures following it as you want! You don't have to worry about limiting the pictures, because you don't have to put them all on paper; you use A LOT less material, so all your scrapbook "stuff" goes A LOT further! I love it because, I can spend some time and make the 4x6 card really nice, and then just stick the pictures in the sleeves! I LOVE it!! I'm SO glad that I found something that will work for me!! I haven't started yet, because I promised myself I would organize all our pictures first! So, I did some samples just to see how it would work and it is SO fun!! The first one was an example for a Relief Society Activity:

This was the sample I made for the sisters if they wanted to put one together: I put these in a small photo album and gave it to my friend, Jill, for her baby shower. She was pretty excited about it! I can't wait to start on Scrap Albums for my kids!!!

Soccer Stars

In a previous post, I talked about the soccer camp that Ken, Taysum and Quinn went to. A week later, the games started! Taysum did pretty well during the first couple, but by the third, he was done. When Taysum is done with something, there is no bribery or barganing... he just checks out! I think it was frustrating to him. At that age they are just all surrounding the ball and it's just one mass! It's really hard for them. I was proud that he tried! Quinn was a big help and support to him. He could get Taysum out on the field when no one else could! Ken had a good time coaching, but it was all so quick; he was disappointed there wasn't time to really teach them.

This was Taysum's favorite position on the field! :)

Bailey doesn't do really well at things like this, so we had the kids' favorite babysitter watch her while Hayden and I went to the game. Mackenzi is just great! Bailey calls her Kenzi. The first day she said, "Bye, Kenzi!" Then she turned to me and said, "I love Kenzi!" It was so cute! Hayden was great at all the games and just enjoyed being outside!

Half Time!

Quinn had a great season! He scored most of the team's goals! He is always so good to Taysum!

Ward Campout

A couple weeks ago, we went on a camp out with our ward. This is a yearly tradition and always a good time. After Ken got home from work, we headed up the mountain to Porcupine Campground on the top of the Big Horn Mountains. Bailey fell asleep on the way up, so we let her sleep in the van for a while. This is her yawning and stretching as she woke up. Hayden had a fun time being outside and having so much to look at!

Taysum had a fun time, too. Someone brought a Velcro catch set and he really enjoyed that.

Bro. Ewart is a counselor in the bishopric and he brings his 4-wheeler every year. He is really generous with letting everyone ride it as much as they want to. Bailey and Taysum rode on it at least 4 times that first night!

Bailey took a little time to warm up to the party, but by the end she really enjoyed herself.

We had a delicious dinner!! There was a chili and dessert cook-off and everything was SO good!!

Taysum was really impressed with and excited about this camping chair!

It was kind of a small turnout, but we had a great time with everyone there! Here are the Carpenters, Sis. Jewell and Sis. Henley (the Henleys were in charge of the event).

Taking a ride with the Thomas'

The s'more master

Bro. Ewart had his camper up there and he was really concerned about keeping the kids warm. When it got dark, he invited them all in and put on a movie for them! They were in heaven!

We have such great people in our ward! We really enjoyed being up there with them. I wasn't comfortable with taking Hayden camping this young, so Ken kept Taysum and Bailey on the mountain and Hayden and I headed down the mountain. I was nervous about driving down the mountain by myself. Luckily, Jill and her son, Hugh, came down with me. She is 8+ months pregnant and Jack didn't want her camping. It was really fun to be able to talk to her on the way down.